Chillediplier: The Story
by Chillediplier
Summary: ChilledChaos and Markiplier meet each other throughout VidCon, how far will the new friendship go? Rated T for occasional language. Updated with more chapters from popularity :D
1. The Convention: Elevator

VidCon 20XX was under way, and many channel runners large and small came from every corner to attend. At this time, it was a Thursday evening, where attendees were only energetic enough to bring their things to the hotel rooms, and maybe mingle with a few others. Some of the larger channel runners had to go to the main convention area to set up for their schedules with panels and booths for meeting fans.

As the sign-ups wound down, the YouTubers dispersed to respective hotel rooms for the night. The group channels, like Game Grumps and Achievement Hunter, had collected in the rooms together, while single channels like Seananners and CaptainSparklez all had their own rooms. And after a half hour, only a few creators were left in the lobby.

One was waiting for the rest of his 'crew' to arrive, one particular Canadian member being worriedly late. The other YouTuber was more than happy to stick around the lobby and chat up with a few fans. After the mingle greet, he made his way for the elevator, being reluctantly followed by the taller Italian YouTuber, who had given up on trying to get a hold of his friends, feeling to exhausted from the trip there to wait any longer.

They each stepped into the small elevator, giving one another a polite nod for a moment, then remaining silent. But in one quiet moment, the elevator gave a violent shake, as the two men inside, nervously balanced themselves from the jolt.

"…That didn't sound good…" the shorter man muttered, looking to the other.

"Uhhmm…" he looked around, biting his lip and pushing the red button at the bottom of the floor buttons. "…Well, this sucks."

Once he had hit the button, the UV lights above them turned a hint of red, illuminating the elevator in a deep glow. This was supposed to alert security of a faulty elevator, but the shorter man looked around tensely.

"Great…" he muttered, looking down and rubbing his arm.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, fine, just…yeah, I'm ok…"

It was in that moment, the taller one tilted his head and turned to full attention to the other.

"Wait, aren't…aren't you Markiplier?"

The shorter man looked up and nodded, still looking concerned. "Y-Yeah, I am. Just…trying to get to my room."

"Yeah, same, but hey, it's good to meet you at least, probably not the best place to meet in though, huh?" he said, giving a half smile.

"That's for sure…" Mark responded with a stunted laugh. He looked up to the other, pausing briefly, before standing a little straighter. "You look familiar. You have a channel too, right?"

"Yeah, though it's far from as big as yours is. Channel, I mean, well, I'm assuming that too, but…" his brief innuendo allowed the two of them to laugh for a moment. "Yeah, I'm ChilledChaos. Or you can just call me Anthony if you'd like."

"Oh, yeah, Wade talks about you every so often. I've been checking out a few of your videos, they're pretty good!"

"So are yours, dude, I just saw the one you uploaded a while back, with the game about…" he paused, remembering the video he was referring to. A video that affected several of Mark's fans, and Mark himself. A video about a game that they had just unintentionally gotten into a similar situation as such game.

Presentable Liberty.

He chuckled nervously and shook his head, looking back to Mark with more concern than before. He could tell that Mark was back in his tense thoughts, as he tried to push the other buttons for any sort of reaction. "They should be moving us soon…"

"Hopefully…hopefully this isn't just some sort of big joking test someone's pulling on us…"

Anthony looked back over to him, knowing the situation was bringing back the loneliness of what the game did to him. He shook his head and smiled, leaning against the railing of the elevator.

"No, we're probably just going to have to wait a little while for this to start running again. And then…" he smiled wider, recalling one of his older videos. "The top floor will have a billiards room and a big TV, with a mini-casino."

"Yeah," Mark smiled with a sigh, having also played the game he spoke of. "We just have to go through a bunch of nonsense levels, possibly exceeding the weight limit with Half Life characters coming in."

"There's that…" Anthony nodded, before remembering a video of Mark's that he had seen, one of the first videos he had seen of his. "Or it's going to open and start flying around like some Willy Wonka hell."

"Oh, fuck, I'd rather not!" Mark laughed, gripping the railing as well.

Anthony decided to keep Mark as distracted as possible, whether it be through talking about games either of them played for their channel, to talking about friends and family, how they got about YouTube, and as the minutes became hours, they didn't really run out of many things to talk about. Eventually, the elevator jarred back to life, the motion startling them. Through the series of laughter and conversations, they hadn't even realized how tired they had become. And upon reaching their floor, chucking at how they were on the same level, they walked to Anthony's hotel room.

"Dude, it's been so great talking to you," Mark started, mid-yawn. "If I was in there by myself, I don't know what would have happened."

"I think we both know, Mark…" Anthony responded, shrugging, before sighing and patting him on the shoulder. "I saw what the game did to you…and it's gotta feel pretty lonely sometimes, trust me, I understand it. Sometimes, doing YouTube makes you feel like there's really no one else there, when you're recording by yourself so much. That's why I do a lot of multiplayer stuff, it gets to me too, the loneliness…"

"Maybe that's what I need. Bob, Wade and I haven't done much stuff together recently…they've both always been too busy."

"Well, look. I'm still getting settled into my new apartment back in Connecticut. If you ever feel like recording stuff with me, once I'm finished with everything, I'll message you and we can talk it over in more detail. Ok?" Anthony requested, a genuine smile on his face.

Mark, always being one to focus on his own channel rather than merging with others, thought on it briefly. He did seem like a funny guy to game with. And, well, he helped him. If Mark was alone in there, too many thoughts of Presentable Liberty would have just flooded back into his head, as he had just only gotten over them at this point. After a moment, he nodded, sighing softly.

"Ok. Keep me updated. When you're free, I'll give you my Skype and we can go from there."

"Alright, that works for me." Anthony smiled again, before stretching a bit. "Welp, I need to go to bed. I was supposed to meet up with my friend Steven, and he texted me saying he was going to come by early tomorrow, and it's already two o'clock."

"Shit, really?" Mark asked, looking at his watch. "I had no idea it was that late! I need to get to a panel at ten tomorrow!"

"Well, that's a little after Steven should be here, mind if we come and check it out?"

"Sure thing, man, I'd love to have you there…" Mark's face turned a slight red as he stammered briefly. "I mean, not in that way, obviously, I just…I think I'm too tired to speak proper English words."

"It's fine, dude," Anthony chuckled. "Ze and I are already pegged as internet boyfriends. Long story. I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Alright. Goodnight, Anthony~"

"Goodnight, Mark."

They parted ways as Anthony stepped into his room and promptly went to bed. Mark, on the other hand, stayed awake for a little while longer, his thoughts running through what had happened on this most eventful first night of VidCon. Eventually, he took to his bed, his phone on his pillow, earbuds in ears, as he listened to a familiar, calming voice speak in his head, easing him to sleep.

"_Welcome, Internet~"_


	2. The Convention: Panel

The morning alarm buzzed in the loose ear bud left in Mark's right ear. It felt like he had only just fallen asleep, as he groaned back to consciousness, his phone nearly out of battery. "Dammit," he muttered, forgetting to plug it in the night before. It was eight o'clock, so he quickly plugged it in and went into the hotel room's shower to prepare for the day's panel and events.

Meanwhile, Anthony took to waiting for his friend, Steven, in the lobby. Once he finally arrived, several worrisome minutes late, Anthony stepped over to him, jokingly scolded him for a moment, then attended a few panels with him. Most of them short, only a half hour long for each of them, then they shared a breakfast together, Anthony guilting Steven to pay, seeing as he was constantly late. All the while, Mark's panel remained in the back of Anthony's head, as he was more than willing to check it out, but just if Steven was alright with it.

Mark had managed to clean up and get dressed, before a knocking was heard on his hotel door. He opened it, seeing his close friend, Wade, on the other side.

"Hey, you almost ready? The panel starts in ten minutes," he said, checking his watch.

"Yeah, yeah, let's go," Mark replied hurriedly, grabbing his phone from the charging cord and stepping out of his hotel room, following Wade to a separate elevator from the previous night. He made sure it was different, that's for sure.

They made it to the convention hall without a problem, as Mark spoke to Wade about the experience he had last night.

"So, I met a friend of yours last night," he started, chuckling a bit at the memory. "Chilled's here."

"Oh! It's about time, I've never been able to hang out with both of you before," Wade said with a smile.

"Now, hang on, we just met in the elevator, it got stuck last night, and we talked for a while."

"Still, you two finally met, that's great!"

"Heh, well, don't expect too much, we might game in the future, but that's really it..." he finished, with an odd feeling of unsure at the end of his sentence. Why did Wade want them to meet so much? Probably just wanted to have more people to game with. That's what he thought at least.

They found their panel room, with a line of people already waiting. Most, upon seeing Mark and Wade enter, began to cheer, both in a fan moment of finally meeting the two of them, and in relief that they didn't have to wait any longer.

In the crowd, a tall Anthony had met with some mutual fans in line, occasionally making cute poses or quips with his Canadian friend in tow. As the line began moving, someone asked him one last question.

"You're a Markiplier fan, Chilled?"

"Well, sorta, I actually just met him yesterday, and I've wanted to check out more YouTubers' panels this year."

"I've met him a couple of times through Adam, or Seananners, we gamed now and then on his channel," Steven said as they stepped in. "He's a pretty cool guy, really good to his fans, too."

Anthony nodded, finding a seat towards the center of the panel room, Steven sitting next to him. The panel began shortly after everyone came in and found a seat, Wade sitting at the stage already, as Mark was waiting off stage.

"Well," Wade began, looking around with a rather goofy smile. "Welcome to Lordminion777's panel! Uh, I'm glad you all came, and I'll start taking questions now!"

An awkward silence fell over the audience, that alone causing them to laugh, including Anthony. He cupped his hands around his mouth and called out to him.

"We love ya, Wade!"

Wade looked to the direction of the call and smiled. "Hey...Hey!" he laughed and pointed to him. "ChilledChaos is here, everyone! And Ze!"

A few people clapped for them, as it suddenly grew louder upon the sight of Mark finally stepping out to confront Wade.

"...What the fuck are you doing, Wade?" he asked after a moment of the two of them staring at each other in rehearsed annoyance.

"I'm...getting the panel started, Mark."

"You mean, 'our' panel, not just yours."

"Well, didn't the agenda say, 'LordMinion777's Panel featuring Markiplier'?"

Mark grabbed a copy of the schedule from his back pocket and opened it, looking to it for a moment. The schedule did, in fact, say that, all for the sake of this joke.

"...Barry! Run the intro again!" he shouted, tossing the agenda over his head and sitting down. Several fans, including Anthony, laughed and applauded, as Mark and Wade chuckled to each other.

"That went a lot better than I thought it would," Wade said, adjusting the microphone on the desk in front of them.

"It really did, wow, that was hilarious," Mark chuckled, before looking around in the crowd. "Hey, guys!"

Applause from the audience echoed all the way through the hall outside. Mark began scanning up and down, before seeming to lean back and forth.

"Where is..." he started, looking over to Wade. "You said someone was here?"

"Yeah," Wade said, pointing over to Anthony with a smile. "Chilled and Ze showed up!"

Mark turned and smiled, waiving quickly to the two. "Hey, guys! Glad you could show up!"

"Glad we could make it!" Anthony called back with a grin.

Acknowledgement between the two was minimal after that, just the occasional joke Anthony tossed in here and there. Eventually, the hour long panel wound down, after Mark received several hugs and gifts from the fans, as well as Wade. As the crowd dispersed back into the hall, Mark and Wade left through the back entry. Anthony and Steven left with the crowd, but Anthony quickly noticed he had left his hat behind. Already having lost his trademark Mario hat shortly before the move from New York to Connecticut, even though he found it, he wasn't about to lose it again.

He hurried back in the grab it, finding it was on the seat next to him. "Dammit, Ze, could grab it for me..." he muttered, chuckling. "We are so over."

As he reached to grab it, another hand was _just _about to. He looked up to spot Mark reaching down to grab it as well, stopping only when he noticed Anthony.

"Oh, shit, that would have been bad..." Mark said with a laugh.

"Could we not be the cliché B RomCom please?" Anthony laughed as well, taking his hat and putting it on. "I thought you already left, though."

"Well, the Game Grumps panel starts here soon, I was gonna stick around and watch it."

"Huh, ok, well..." Anthony thought briefly, his Meet-and-Greet booth wasn't going to open or another few hours now, and Ze had already left to meet with The Creatures, so Anthony was completely free. Though, he wasn't much of a Game Grumps fan, at least not to the extent that Mark was, but hey, it was something to do, maybe have a few laughs with a new friend.

"Ok, is it alright if I chill with you?"

"Was that supposed to be a pun?" Mark asked, smirking and sitting down in the seat previously occupied by Ze.

"Not really, or was it?" Anthony responded, a devious look out of the corner of his eye. He soon laughed and sat down next to him, easily strumming up a conversation with Mark, then another and another. The panel started in a half hour, and Anthony found himself enjoying it quite a bit. The Game Grumps were amusing to watch, sure, but in between questions, Mark and he were exchanging jokes, referencing each other's videos, and just laughing together. And Anthony couldn't help but have a shared thought with Mark

_Why hasn't Wade introduced us sooner?_


	3. The Convention: Booth

After the Game Grumps panel, Anthony texted Steven to see if he was done with what he was doing with The Creatures. He lingered a bit as Mark talked with Arin and Danny for a while, waiting for Steven to respond. A half hour passed, still nothing. He decided to just let him go about what he was doing. He stepped back in, as the shorter Mark accidentally bumped square into his chest, his taller stature making it like hitting a soft wall.

"Oh, jeez, I'm so sorry!" Anthony apologized, looking Mark over as he laughed, seeming unfazed by the impact.

"No, it's ok, I'm good!" Mark responded, readjusting the glasses on his nose. "You alright?"

"Yeah, trust me, takes a lot more than a soft bump to hurt me," he said, smirking with a joke flex. "Been working out for months now, turning into a block of steel~"

"A rather squishy block of steel, that is."

"Oh, that cuts deep, Mark..." he said, looking away in mock sadness, though unable to keep it up for long, as he got back a text from Steven. He looked to his phone, sighing a bit.

"What's up?" Mark asked, not wanting to directly look at his phone.

"Nothing, apparently, Steve's gonna hang out with his Creature friends for the rest of the day..."

"Ah, I'm sorry," Mark said with sympathy. "I wish I could hang out with you more, but I have an autograph booth to get to, I can't be late for it."

"That's fine, I have one, too, but it was supposed to be us and two of our other friends. But, turns out, one of them is home sick and the other couldn't afford the trip, so, it's just Steve and I...now he's not even here."

"Aw, dude...I'm really sorry, but I need to get going...I'll...I'll hang with you after, ok?" Mark said, patting his arm briefly before stepping away, hesitantly, but also swiftly to get to the booth on time. Anthony, taking a slower stride, followed in the direction Mark was heading.

The autograph lines were long for both YouTubers, though much longer for Mark's. He gave nearly each fan a unique signature and even a few photos. Anthony, on the other hand, got drawing requests, which was a trend for his autograph booths. He has never claimed to be a 'good' artist, most of the drawings were crayon stick-ish figure, to get the fan's idea across. It was just the fact that _he_ was drawing and signing them that they loved. He kept the fact that Ze was missing off of his mind while focusing on each fan request.

"You on a rocket flying to the moon to save Jess."

"A monkey playing a cello."

"A sock gnome in your drawers."

Yeah, most of them were nonsense, until one of the last fans showed up, wearing a black shirt with a white 'M', a pink moustache on it.

"Hey, Chilled!" the fan began, holding two papers in her hands. "I kind of have a weird one..."

"Doubt it's gonna be much weirder than anything else I've heard today," he replied with a smile.

"Well, I just got out of Markiplier's signing booth," she said, pointing over to the still massive line leading to the sitting Tuber. Anthony looked over and nodded with a smile.

"Ok, what would you like?"

"Uh, could you draw yourself and Mark, uh," she said with a nervous chuckle. "Maybe kissing, while Ze's in the corner looking jealous?"

Anthony laughed a bit, rubbing his lips, a sign that he was feeling a little awkward. "Yeah, that's cool, it'll show Ze for not showing up with me today," he said, taking the paper from her to start drawing.

"Ok, and just in case you need it to help draw his face, I have a photo he just signed, here you go~"

She handed him a rather...impressive and iconic photo of Mark displaying his charity pajama pants on his stairs, looking out the window in a dramatic pose, a flannel shirt left unbuttoned, holding a Minecraft Creeper mug. Anthony laughed at the choice of pictures at first, then began drawing.

He found it easy to draw Ze at first, a small, angry chibi with his trademark red viking helmet on, silently fuming in the direction of a puckering Chilled. But as he began drawing Mark, he couldn't help but keep looking at the photo the fan provided. He hadn't seen that picture before, and, well, it did showcase his chest pretty well. That was Mark's joking intention to get word out about the pants. He found himself distracted, and occasionally, lost within it.

"Uhm, I sort of have to go soon, sorry..."

"Huh?" Anthony looked up, before stammering quickly. "O-Oh, sorry, sorry, I'll hurry up," he said, quickly doodling in Mark puckering in his direction. And with a quick signature, he handed the drawing and photo back.

"Thank you~" the fan thanked him happily, walking off.

He waved and sighed, adjusting his Mario hat timidly. Why did he suddenly feel flustered? Was it the photo? Something was going on in his head that he would only joke around about with Steven. He looked over to Mark's booth, seeing how busy he still was. But after noticing how his own booth was empty, he put up the "Will Be Right Back" sign and grabbed a piece of paper from the spare pile of blanks under his booth, getting to work on a drawing. Soon after, he got in line for Mark's booth.

"Thank you so much! I've wanted to meet you for so long~" the fan ahead of Anthony said happily to Mark as he signed a photo. Anthony noticed that a series of photos were left to chose from for him to sign, with only one of the pajama pants model shot left.

"Thank you for being a fan, I'm glad to have met every one of you here," he said with a grateful smile before handing the photo back. As they stepped away, Anthony glanced over, a bit shyly to him.

"Hey, Anthony! You done with your booth?" Mark asked, the smile on his face wide as if greeting a long time friend.

"Uh, yeah, I just wanted to come by and see how you were doing here, and, well, maybe get a picture signed, if that's ok?"

"Sure! I didn't even know you were interested!"

"Yeah, well, I texted Jess that I met you, and she wanted me to grab one," Anthony responded, trying not to be too obvious with lying through his teeth.

"Ah, ok, well, pick your picture, and I'll sign it for ya!"

He acted like he took a moment skimming through the photos, before stopping at the one he wanted, the pajama shot.

"Heh, I'm pretty sure she'd like this one," he said, handing it over.

"Alright, and good job, you got the last one," Mark said, signing it with his real name, Mark Fischbach, and added a small warfstache at the bottom as an underline. He handed it back to him with a grin. "Here you go, and I hope everything works out between you and your friend, it's a shame you haven't been able to hang out as much..."

"Yeah, it's alright, though, he hasn't spent time with his Creature friends in a while anyways," Anthony said, before fiddling with a folded piece of paper in his hand. "And, well, I know you weren't charging, but I wanted to do a...sort of a trade I guess, a picture for a picture, since my booth was all about me drawing. I hope you don't mind that I drew something for you..."

"Dude, that's awesome! I love getting art from fans, I have a whole wall back home." Mark smiled wider as Anthony handed him the folded paper.

"I hope you like it...sorry, but I gotta break down my panel, I'm gonna take a break from the con for a while. I'll see you later, ok?"

Anthony left too fast for Mark to respond, as he shrugged and was about to open the paper, before another fan interrupted him. He saw that his line was still pretty long, so he decided to slide the paper into his pocket. As he continued signing, he finally had a slow moment, so he took the paper back out and unfolded it. The drawing was of Tiny Box Tim smiling wide with Chilled's trademark Mario hat on, hanging off the side of his head. Mark laughed, thinking it was absolutely adorable, and noticed that he had signed it with a message at the corner.

"_Thanks for being there when no one else was,_

_Anthony."_


	4. The Outside: Plague

**A/N: Sorry I haven't uploaded anything in a long time, a lot of IRL stuff has been happening, from a promotion at my job to more personal issues. But now, I have a little bit of extra time in my days to get back in the swing of writing, not only this story but a few others. Thank you all for your support, it really means a lot to me that my stories aren't falling on blind eyes. 3**

Conventions are notorious for being a breeding ground of disease. The long conning hours with several others with little sleep, less food and, in most cases, even less personal hygiene. For the most part, Mark and Anthony would avoid the 'Con Cold' or 'PAX Plague' whenever they would attend, but a busy schedule of panels and booths makes one forgetful.

As the con came to an end, the two had gotten closer each day. They shared future video ideas, joined each other at Achievement Hunter and Retsupurae panels, and even gamed with each other in Anthony's hotel room on the last night. They played Mario Party 8 all the way until the sun rose the next day, signaling the end of the convention.

They packed in their respective rooms and put their bags in the lobby collection area, before going to one last panel together. Steven joined up with Anthony for one final moment before hurrying out to catch his flight back home.

"He seemed pretty busy all convention," Mark started as they walked together towards the garden area for closing ceremonies.

"A little too busy if you ask me," Anthony responded with a shrug. "But I guess new plans came up with the Creatures. No biggy, we have some Mario Kart planned for when I get back home."

"That's good at least. And hey, Wade and I might start recording Drunk Minecraft again, wanna join in on that?"

"Ehh, I don't really do the drunk gaming too much..." Anthony said, scratching behind his head. "But it does sound like fun, I'll take a break from sobriety if it means chilling with you guys."

Mark chuckled a bit, shaking his head. "You don't have to if you don't want, it was just an idea," he finished, sitting down in an aisle seat.

Closing ceremonies were just as amusing as opening ceremonies had been. Mark, as well as a few other big names, came to the stage to thank everyone for attending, all of them having a few more jokes and sketches to perform, all leading up to a big "Thank You! VidCon 20XX!" banner to descend at center stage. Applause rose, and soon after, so did attendees. Anthony, however, couldn't wait for Mark to return from the stage, as his flight to Connecticut was only in an hour. He grabbed his bag and started off for a shuttle, making a mental note to give Wade permission to send Mark his Skype username.

During the next week, Mark and Anthony spoke a few times over Skype. They hadn't recorded together just yet, they were still working on their own separate videos. And they knew that, with both their names being as big as they were, a video together had to be special, one that their fans would love.

In the meantime, Mark had also been talking to his friend Jon (better known as JonTron) about a collab video they've been planning. Jon sent him an invitation to join him over in New York, Anthony's old home state. Mark took it upon himself to make the voyage to see Anthony in Connecticut, if the time allowed him to do so. He had gotten his cell number to keep in touch, and once his trip to New York was set to go that weekend, he got Anthony's permission and address, in hopes to join him in a recording session. And, well, to just hang out with a new friend, Mark considered.

Jon and Mark got through a day of recording and touring around New York together, and Mark took the second day to travel east. Hopping from bus to cab, he finally made the half day travel to Anthony's address. Enthusiastically, he stepped up and knocked at the front door, being greeted by-

"Hey, Mark, nice to meet you."

-Anthony's girlfriend, Jess.

"Oh, hey, Jess, right?" Mark was taken aback a little, not expecting her to answer the door instead. "How is everything?"

"Uh, good for the most part, but...if you're expecting Anthony, he's sort of out of order right now," Jess said, stepping back to let him in. "Make yourself at home, shouldn't let the trip be for nothing. There's soup and popcorn in the kitchen if you're hungry."

"Popcorn, why?" Mark asked with a chuckle as he stepped in.

"It's the one thing that makes him feel better," she responded with a laugh.

Mark wasn't sure just what had happened. He started getting worried upon looking around and not seeing him anywhere. He went over and sat on their couch, feeling a little awkward to not have Anthony to hang out with in his own home. Jess, however, went into a closed off room, Mark looking away, not wanting to make things worse in any way. She was in there for a long moment, as Mark waited, then sighed and stood up, about to leave, until he saw Anthony open the door quickly, appearing to hastily throw on a shirt and fix his hair.

"H-Hey," Anthony said with a bit of a forced smile. "What are you doing here?"

"Y-You said it was alright, I texted you yesterday letting you know I'd be in New York if you wanted to record..."

"Oh, fuck...I...completely forgot, I'm sorry, sort of slept in today..." Anthony responded guiltily, voice turning hoarse at the end of his sentence. "How much longer are you gonna be there for?"

"Uh, for another few days, but...if I'm bothering you, I'll go. We can do this another time, ok?" Mark offered, noticing how he clearly wasn't up for recording anything.

"N-No, no, it's cool, I'm just...it's fine, just give me a few minutes, ok?"

Mark nodded as Anthony returned to his room. He waited by the door as he heard a series of hasty rustling, possibly of him putting away dirty clothes, all the while with what sounded like muffled coughing and Jess advising against him straining himself. Mark, feeling even more guilty than before, shook his head and started for the front door, before Anthony hurried back out, face much more pallid than before.

"Wh-, Are you leaving?" Anthony asked, Jess in toe.

"Well, it doesn't seem like you're doing too well, so..." Mark started as Anthony looked a little sadder. "Listen, we can do this again when you're feeling better, but I don't want you to do anything you don't want to."

"No, dude, it's fine, you came out all this way just to hang out, I...don't want it to be for nothing."

"It's not for nothing," Mark started, looking away. "But if you're not feeling up to it, it's fine, I can come back some other time..."

"Anthony? You alright? Easy, Anthony, stay with me!"

Mark looked up to Jess hastily holding him up and walking him over to the couch, setting him down, nearly all color drained from his face and hands.

"What's wrong with him?!" Mark asked worriedly, hurrying for him.

"He's had the flu since he got back, and he's only been getting worse."

"The flu?! Wh-...why did he even say it was ok for me to come over?"

"He's delirious, he's been trying to record twelve videos a day everyday." Jess said, while hurrying to get an ice pack from the freezer. "Mark, I'm really sorry, but I'm gonna need your help."

"I'm here, what do you need me to do?" Mark asked, too frightened by the situation to care what the request was.

As Jess brought the ice pack over to rest it on his forehead, she fell quiet, looking him over quickly, before looking back in a panic to Mark.

"Call 911. Now."


	5. The Outside: Visit

Mark remained in the waiting room, foot tapping nervously for the few hours he had been sitting there. Jess would bring him snacks and whatever news she heard about Anthony, not too sure of how much longer they'd have to wait until they could see him. It wasn't for another hour and a half that the nurse came out, allowing them to come into the hospital room he was sleeping in, an IV allowing him to remain hydrated.

"Fuck..." Mark muttered under his breath, recalling a short hospital stay he had to go to not long ago. "A-At least he looks a little better..."

Jess nodded, stepping up to his bed. Color had definitely returned to his face, but he still looked exhausted, even while unconscious. They both realized they had brought him in at the right time, otherwise, things could have turned out much worse.

"Do you want to be alone with him for a while?" Mark asked Jess, not wanting to come between the two of them at this time.

"Yeah...thanks...And I mean it, you helped me out big time today. I doubt I could have kept calm over the phone if it was just the two of us," she said, taking a seat next to the bed, her hand sliding into his.

"It was hard for me, too, but it had to get done," he said, taking a quick glance at the held hands, before stepping out, sitting in the waiting chair outside of the room.

Feeling a mix of awkwardness and concern, Mark didn't bother to go back in until he knew he could. He got a few worried looks from younger attendees and visitors, some of them recognizing him right away, starting to crowd around him with questions of why he was here, if he was ok and, what got the nurses' attention, who he was waiting for. The staff shooed them away (while both apologizing and scolding Mark for allowing a possibly hazardous crowd to gather around him), and a few moments later, Jess peaked around the doorway, looking to Mark.

"Hey, he's asking for you, wanna come in?"

"If it's ok, I don't want to intrude...I already got myself in trouble just for being here..."

"It's fine, no fans'll swarm you in here...just one."

He couldn't help but chuckle about that as he stood and entered the room, Anthony awake, though appearing still tired. Mark swallowed, waving awkwardly, unsure of how close he was allowed to get.

"H-Hey, buddy," he said with a smile, relieved at all to see him awake. "How you feeling?"

"Nhh...anyone get the license plate off the satellite that hit me?" Anthony asked, voice weak and barely above a whisper, while he tried to position a bit to see them better.

"Sorry, dude, it was a hit and run," Mark responded, trying to help lighten the mood. Anthony laughed weakly, struggling a bit to get the pillow underneath him. Jess stepped over and helped him move it down to a more comfortable spot, while also lifting the bed's reclining ability. He smiled to her, before coughing slightly, resting back into the bed.

"We'll be here for as long as you need us to be...or I will, at least," Jess said, stroking his hair a bit as he looked to Mark. "If you have to leave soon, we understand."

"Well..." Mark started, thinking a bit. "My flight back to LA isn't for another three days, I was here to visit a friend of mine in New York for recording, but we got done early enough, that's why I'm here at all. So, I'm here until then, and even if I have to, I'll extend my leave."

Though he wasn't sure what prompted him to say that at first, the smiles on both Jess and Anthony reminded him why he did. He genuinely wants his friends to be alright, and he'd do anything to make sure of it. All of them. Old or new.

"Thanks, but we don't want you to feel obligated to stay," she said, starting to feel guilty for having him be there for anything other than what he wanted to do in the first place.

"It's alright, honestly. You could both use some company right now, trust me..." he said, shrugging lightly.

"H-Hey, Jess?" Anthony asked softly, looking up to her. "Could...we have some time to talk?"

Jess looked back to him, unsure if she should at the moment, but decided them talking couldn't hurt.

"Ok, just let me know if you want me back in, alright?" she said, kissing his forehead softly, before stepping out, giving Mark a nod as she did.

Mark stood away from the doorway awkwardly, looking back over to Anthony a few times, looking around more. It wasn't until Anthony spoke out that Mark looked back to him again.

"You can sit down, you know?"

He chucked and nodded, going over to sit by his bedside.

"Sorry if I ruined your visit..." Anthony said, and as Mark was about to rebut, he continued. "I know I did, no need to say otherwise...I was just...excited to see you again, I...haven't been thinking straight...innuendo unintended."

"Or was it?" Mark said with a laugh. Anthony laughed as well, though hoarsely. "But seriously, I...I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"Hey, you're helping me..." Anthony said, trying to sit up a bit more. "You staying here makes me feel twice as well. And I promise, next time you can come by, we'll marathon any game you want. I'll even order us pizza, my treat."

"Sounds like a plan, but first you need to get better, ok?" Mark said, smiling a bit, knowing what to say next, something they could both relate to. "Imagine how your fans'll feel if something happened that prevented you from uploading anymore."

"I already had my week off this year, not gonna put off my hiatus for longer than I need to."

Mark sighed a bit, but nodded, knowing how YouTube worked, especially for big names like the two of them. If you didn't upload daily, the fans go in a panic, more-so if you don't update on social media.

"I see...but you can't help it. I made three videos when I was in the hospital a while back and, while everyone was worried, it reminded me of what I was coming home to...what you'll be coming home to as well. You have people all over the world that care about you. It's a big responsibility, but it's also reassuring...but as for right now, you have two people you need to make sure you get better for. Forget the world right now, even though I just brought it up," Mark laughed, trying to clear the growing lump in his throat. "You really scared us back there..."

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to drag you into my problems...I never want to do that to anyone..." Anthony said, rubbing at his throat. "I always just keep to myself, if I don't have Jess there..."

"She cares for you a lot, too, you know." Mark said, though biting his tongue in embarrassment at saying 'too'.

"I know..." Anthony muttered, sighing, Mark a little relieved that it seemed he hadn't noticed. Mark looked away, wondering if he should call Jess back in for him, before jumping at Anthony gasping harshly, trying to pinch his nose, stifling a sneeze.

"Uh, probably shouldn't do that, it'll cause more harm than good..." Mark said, concerned once again.

"Screw that," Anthony said, sniffling a bit. "I'm not risking getting you like this..."

"Probably too late for that," Mark laughed, shaking his head. "I've been in the danger zone for too long."

"Well we haven't made out yet, so you're still good,"

"Wait, what? Yet?" Mark asked, a bit baffled, laughing more, Anthony laughing as well, before quickly pulling the covers over his nose, falling to a fit. Once it quelled, Mark shrugged with worry. "I can tell you're uncomfortable with me here right now...just try to rest, ok? You need your sleep..."

"Fine, fine..." Anthony responded, congestion now on top of his weaker voice. "Just...let Jess know you need a night to stay at our place, ok?"

"Wh-...are you sure?"

"More than sure...someone's gotta take care of our guinea pigs," he chuckled, resting his head on the pillow. Mark took the hint, nodding, and started for the doorway. "Hey, one more thing..."

"Yeah? Anything..."

"The drawing I gave you at the con...it still rings true...Thank you...for being there."

"Heh..." Mark smiled, feeling his face warm slightly. "Anytime."


	6. The Outside: Idea

Jess was more than happy to accommodate Anthony's wishes of letting Mark stay the night. He slept on the couch to avoid further intruding, the whining squeaks of the guinea pigs only keeping him awake with the knowledge that they missed their papa, Chilled. In the morning, he let Jess know he was leaving, and she made him a quick sandwich and snacks for the voyage back to New York, and inevitably, back to L.A. Anthony recovered after a week, and Mark made sure to post tweets to ChilledChaos to keep his fans updated and less panicky. And Anthony made an apology video right as he got home, still sounding tired, one that Mark commented on, glad to see him feeling better (a comment that gained the fastest amount of likes he had seen yet).

After a few weeks and occasional check-ins, Mark and Anthony were back to posting their own videos individually. Wade had talked to both of them over those weeks, and said that both he and Bob had time off, if they all wanted to do a joined recording session. Mark, thinking of one better, knew that he hadn't done a charity livestream in some time. He got a week's worth of recording done in a few hours, and sent out a Skype call to Bob and Wade.

"Hey, guys," he started once they picked up.

"Hey, Mark," Wade replied.

"Hello~" said Bob.

"So, instead of a recording session of a few episodes, I was thinking of a stream for this new charity I found out about last week. They're a new organization that helps out with adoption and foster homes. How does that sound?"

"I'm down, I just need to take care of a few problems with my computer first," Wade said, before noticing he was getting another Skype call. "Oh, hang on, Mark, someone else is calling me."

"Ok, I'll be here," he replied, continuing to talk to Bob about the idea. Wade answered his call, as Anthony's face appeared on the stream.

"Hey, Chilled! How you doing, buddy?"

"I'm good, waiting for my crew to get on for Monopoly, what's up?"

"Hey, uh..." Wade thought briefly, noticing the idle call. "What are you doing this Saturday?"

"Nothing really, Jess has work, so I was going to maybe stream a little bit."

"That's great, perfect actually! Hey, hang on a second, let me put you through another call."

"Oh...kay?" Anthony responded, looking confused.

Wade disconnected the call with Anthony and went back on with Mark and Bob.

"Hey, I'm gonna put someone through on the call real quick, ok?"

"...Alright?" Mark responded, unsure of Wade's intentions, before brightening up almost immediately upon seeing Anthony's face when he accepted the call. "Hey! How's everything doing?"

"Hey, Mark!" Anthony started. "Pretty good, I'm feeling a lot better now, and again, I'm sorry about all that."

"That's fine, dude, it's ok!" Mark replied. "Bob, this is Anthony, he's a pretty cool YouTuber I met at VidCon."

"Hello~" Bob said in his usual style.

"Hey...so, Wade, what did you want us to talk about?"

"Well," he started. "Seeing as you guys got pretty chummy at the con, and since you two never recorded together, I thought that you could join us in a charity livestream this Saturday."

"Dude, that would be awesome!" Mark started, smiling widely, trying to contain his excitement for the possible future. Anthony, however, paused at the thought.

"A charity livestream?" he asked. "I mean, that's an awesome idea, but...wouldn't I be intruding on good intentions?"

"Nah, man, we'd love to have you on, right?" Mark said, looking to the other two screens of Bob and Wade.

"Hey, the more the merrier," Bob started, thinking it was alright. "You can bring in both of your fans and we could raise a lot more than usual."

"And this would be a good way for more people to watch you, Chilled, we get a lot of people in these streams."

"Well...if you think I'd be good for it..." Anthony said, before Mark spoke out.

"Hey, guys, I'm gonna talk with him one on one real quick, ok?"

"Sure thing, let him know the details," Wade said, nodding.

He disconnected from the others, leaving only a stream of Anthony on his screen.

"Hey, you alright to do this?"

"Sure I am," Anthony said. "But I'm...not really as good with streaming as you are. I rarely ever do it, and when I do, it doesn't really go anywhere."

"Don't worry about stuff like that, dude, just be yourself, they'll love you! And I'm sure you'll get a lot more subscribers from it. I'll promote the shit out of your channel too."

"You don't have to go that far, man," Anthony laughed. "I'm just a little nervous, I don't want to ruin your fanbase from my crudeness..."

"Have you _seen_ a livestream we've done?" Mark asked, laughing hard. "You'll fit in, I assure you!" He paused for a moment, before shrugging. "But like I said, I don't want to force you into anything you don't want to you. It's your decision, and if you do want to, I'll make a video announcement right now about it to get people ready."

Anthony thought for a moment. More subscribers would be helpful, and it was a charity event, if he could help bring some extra funds for the cause, he'd be more than happy. And the timing was great as well, there was practically no reason for him to refuse.

"...Alright. I'm in."


	7. The Outside: Stream

**A/N: Sorry for the delay in updates on my two major stories, with work, real life issues and the recent tragedy in Markiplier's life, I couldn't bring myself to uploading anything new lately. But seeing as a lot of that is now in the clear, I figured now would be a good time to post the next chapter in respective stories. Thanks again for being so patient, and to those who have shown Mark some love, I thank you double. We're all here for this rough time, and he's grateful for it all.**

They discussed the details about the charity, as Mark showed the three of them websites and blogs of other people sending them funding. Anthony skimmed through them all and felt no real reason to refuse at this point. Soon after, they each posted in their Twitter and Facebook accounts, Mark and Anthony recording a short video to put up on their channels.

"Hey, guys, I just wanted to put up a quick video to announce my next charity livestream event," Mark started, a wide smile on his face. "I know it's pretty abrupt, but it's going to be this Saturday, from twelve to six, pacific standard time, and it's for Little Hands, a charity that helps children who need foster homes, and the process of adoption. It would be fantastic if you guys can join in, Bob, Wade and I are all gonna be there, we'll be playing a bunch of different games, and we even have a special guest joining us this time! Some of you may know him, his YouTube name is ChilledChaos, and he's become a really cool friend of mine recently. You can find a link down in the description to his channel, as well as links to Little Hands' website to see more about them."

His video continued on with more information, as well as a 'Secret Store Charity Item' that would be available for purchase for one hour during the event, one of which Anthony agreed upon. He in turn also put up a video on his channel, but in a different style. It began with a vlog of he and Jess goofing around Connecticut, playing with their new dog, Rexxar, and a brief fan mail unboxing. At the end of the video was when he had his announcement.

"Ok, Internet, thank you for watching us being total idiots once again, I really appreciate it, but what I'd love for you guys to do next is...have Saturday free. Yes, Saturday, from three to nine, eastern standard time, I am joining in a charity livestream event. I'm going to be helping to raise money for Little Hands, a cool charity that helps with getting kids adopted, getting kids new homes, it's just a great thing. And I'm going to be working with a channel that I know a lot of you guys know about by now, Markiplier. He's a great guy if you don't already know about him, which I doubt, he owns about a good half of YouTube right now. He's like a Pewdiepie with glasses. I kid, he's an awesome guy, we're good friends, and I hope you guys can come join in and watch as I make a fool of myself in front of clearly better talent. Anyway, thank you guys for watching, I'll hopefully see you on Saturday!"

The videos went up within moments of each other, and already, Anthony began to notice an influx of subscribers just from Mark recommending him in his video. The comments were overwhelming with positivity, something he was a bit surprised to see, and it gave him hope that Saturday would be a great event.

As Saturday rolled around, Mark readied the stream set-up, the game list, the charity link and the store item, to which all purchases would be directed to the charity. Anthony gathered snacks and drinks, as did Mark, and made sure Rex would stay out of his room for the next six hours. He didn't want any interruptions for this, as he wanted to not only do a good job to help funding, but also wanted to make a good first impression for new fans. In the back of his mind, the concern to stay through it all to impress Mark was there, but not as prominent. And right at their respective hours of twelve and three, they sent announcements to their fans and started streaming.

"Hey, guys!" Mark said happily, "You all ready for today?"

"Yup, just updated my PC, now I won't be a laggy grin through the whole thing," Wade said.

"Well...you already are, aren't you?" Mark asked, beginning to sync everyone's channel together.

"Shut up," Wade responded with a laugh. "Where's Chilled?"

"I'm calling him now, hang on," Bob said, having added Anthony to his Skype friends list.

Anthony hurried to his desk, quickly putting on his headset and answering the call.

"Hey, hey, I'm here," he said, panting briefly.

"Were you just working out?" Mark asked with a chuckle, getting their face cams into the corners of the stream screen.

"I was taking an emergency leek, are we starting now?"

"Yeah, about two thousand people just heard that." Mark responded, Anthony groaning a bit.

"Goddammit," he muttered, causing the other three to laugh. "No, I was thinking about grabbing an empty bottle just in case, but I didn't want-"

"Wait, wait, an empty bottle?" Wade asked. "You're not serious!"

"Yeah, well, a little bit, but-" he started to explain, but his explanation was silenced by the sound of more laughter.

"Dude, you can use the bathroom during this, it's not a twenty-four hour stream!" Mark said, still laughing.

"I don't want to miss anything! I even have food here!"

"Oh, well, yeah," they each agreed, showing their snacks as well.

"That's just a given for streams, dude." Bob said, taking a swig of his drink.

"So, you guys don't use bottles?"

"NO!" they each replied at once, leaving all of them laughing hard.

"Ok! Ok, are we all ready!" Mark asked after a moment, noticing how the stream chat started to get more populated.

"Yes! Let's do this!" Wade said, leaning back into his chair.

"Alright! Hello, everybody! Welcome to the charity livestream!" Mark started as he usually would. "I'm here with..."

"Bob,"

"Wade,"

"And a complete stranger, woooo~" Anthony said with wiggly fingers.

"Oh, God! Get out of our stream! Go! Get out!" Mark shouted jokingly, causing Anthony to pout and start removing his headset. "Stop it, get back in here!" He shouted with a laugh.

"Oh, good, I thought you were serious," he responded, putting them back on. "I was getting scared."

"Shut up, we love you~" Wade said.

"This is ChilledChaos, we met at VidCon this year, and he's a super cool guy, a great YouTuber and one of my new, good friends."

"Aw, dude, you don't have to lie to your fans like that, you're a much cooler person," Anthony responded modestly.

"What? I would never lie!" Mark said back, starting up one of their first games, Grand Theft Auto Five.

"Would the married couple over here stop bickering and can we get started?!" Wade interrupted, each of them laughing, Anthony turning a light shade of pink in the cheeks.

"What, no! We're not shipped yet!" he said, "It's still ZeRoyalChaos in my life,"

"And Septiplier here, I'm pretty sure Jack would be crushed if I have another ship to sail."

"You both know the fans are just gonna start writing and drawing for you two."

"Well, actually, that's already started happening, at VidCon, I had a fan draw us together," Anthony said with a laugh.

"Wait, really?" Mark asked. "That's...frightening. But awesome! You guys are all awesome." Mark said, referencing the fans in the chat. "Our secret charity item is going to go up soon, and that might help with the ship a little more actually, now that I think about it."

After a moment of banter, the stream started. They played GTAV for an hour and a half, mostly goofing around and cracking up, making an attempt at a heist and failing spectacularly. Anthony and Mark would target each other and kill each other in hilarious fashions. The fan count soon reached nearly two hundred thousand by the time the game ended, and Mark released the secret item. One thousand to be sold to the first lucky fans to get them. They were all soon sold out, and they continued gaming, next on the list being some Team Fortress 2. Anthony, not playing the game in years, was on Blu, while the others were all on Red. And after dying nearly a dozen times, Anthony finally managed to at least fire on Mark as a Scout. But with Mark acing as Medic, victory was fast. A few more games came and went, at the start of each one, Mark would check the tally of donations, and was pleased to see how many people were sending funds. Anthony would send an occasional picture tweet out about how amazing the event was, bringing in that many more people. It nearly scrapped half a million before concluding.

"Alright, guys, this has been...an _amazing_ stream," Mark started. "I'm just so proud of all of you for sticking with us this long."

"Yeah, wow, I'm glad my PC's fixed, because I would have never been able to handle all you guys before," Wade said.

"We need to do this again soon," Bob said, "All of us."

"Absolutely, wow..." Anthony said, seeming physically and emotionally drained from it. "That was a really wild ride. I'm so glad I could join in."

"Yeah, dude, we really need to all stream or record together again," Mark said, with a genuine smile, before turning his attention to the fans. "And _you_ guys! Almost half a million! You're all awesome! We raised so much in the past six hours for this wonderful charity. I'll let you know the amount on my Twitter next week, alright?"

"And we sold out of the charity item in nearly twenty minutes!" Anthony said, stretching a bit. "You'll all be getting those in the next week."

"Yep! Alright, guys, everyone ready to call it?"

"Yes, thank you all for coming today! This is LordMinion777 signing out!"

"Muyskerm logging off."

Both screens blacked out as Mark and Anthony remained.

"Alright, everyone, thank you so much for stopping by, for donating if you could, for getting the item, for all that. And thank you, Anthony, for stopping by." Mark said, turning off his game.

"Thank you for having me." Anthony started. "I have been meaning to stream a lot more, and I think this just gave me some motivation to do so."

"Great! Maybe I'll join you on your channel, too!" Mark suggested. "If you want me to, that is."

"I'd enjoy it, I'm pretty sure the fans would too..." he responded, before looking to the chat. "Uh, I think they'd _really _like that..."

Mark looked to the stream as well and laughed with a nod. It was erupting with the fans that remained, shouting things like "Chillediplier forever!", "Who needs Ze and Jack, these two are perf!", and, "I'm gonna have to start shipping these two...dammit!"

"Alright, it looks like the vote is clear. Get ready to start seeing some Chillediplier soon!" Mark said, only sounding half joking.

"Wait, no, don't encourage them!" Anthony said, a grin clear on his face as more of the comments appeared.

"Sorry, Chilled, the fans want us to want each other~" he said with a laugh before leaning back. "Alright, guys, that's it for the stream, we love all of you!"

"Yeah, all you pervert fans out there, take care." Anthony said before turning off his end of the stream. Mark chuckled and turned back to the stream.

"Thank you guys all so much for watching, I really do appreciate you taking time out of your schedules to join us...absolute idiots to game for a good cause. You're all amazing. And as always, I will see _you..._in the next video. Buh-bye~" he said with a wave, cutting out the stream.

The amount was bigger than that he had seen in a single stream before. Nearly a million dollars was raised. Mark was brought close to tears upon seeing the amount. But he knew a final task had to be done. He had to get all one thousand of the charity items sent out, and he had to make sure they each got to their destination.

All one thousand people will be getting in the mail, a t-shirt. Of the drawing Anthony gave Mark at the convention.


	8. The Inside: Move

**A/N: Sorry for not updating this as often as I used to, my main focus has been TYW when it comes to writing, if not focusing on real life issues. But as Anthony has moved to California now, more Chillediplier opportunities have now been open! Visits! Collabs! Con appearances! ****Naughty things!**** And this is just in real life! Also, these chapters are in no way representative of anyone's real life sexual orientation. This story is purely for a fluffy what/if scenario. If other people can write for Mark shipped with bigger names, why shouldn't I be allowed? Also also, I've updated the name and chapter titles a bit, to represent the chapters more as arcs than individual stories. Hope that didn't cause too much confusion x.x Again, thank you for the support and patience, it means a lot to me every time I see a notification of a new review/fave/follow. Love you all~**

Several months had passed since the livestream, and communication between the two YouTubers wound down in due time. Sure, after that, they kept in touch quite a bit, for the first month. Skype conversations, co-op gaming and even a text or two. But as time often goes, and with both of their busy schedules, they couldn't exactly make many time slots to dedicate to the two of them. Eventually, they went back to their own lives, their paths not about to cross in their minds again.

That was, until, troubles began for Anthony. Being denied help when he hurt his back, at least, not without an expensive price tag, caused him to mildly resent Connecticut. After much consideration, and a lucky job transfer for Jess, he was bound for California. And there, he would be able to hang out with Steven more often, instead of the rare Derp Crew meet-up or convention. After much planning and packing, and a rambunctious Rexxar, they made their way to their new home.

Times were hard for Mark as well, but were starting to look much better. Multiple changes of hair color, a meet up with his close friend Jacksepticeye, and a very successful, though phone and wallet breaking livestream with the Game Grumps, left Mark feeling better, but emotionally drained. In time, once he finally got a moment to himself, he decided to catch up a little bit on his Twitter. His DMs being closed once more allowed the battery of his phone to run for longer than twenty minutes. Having been in his bedroom after editing videos, he eased himself onto his bed and scrolled through, none of them really catching his eye, except for one. Or rather, one series of tweets. A very long series of tweets.

He scrolled down through the past of Anthony's long road trip from Connecticut to California, photos and tweets from several states on his journey, until he finally made it to Mark's state of residence. And in L.A. no less. He couldn't help but sit up in surprise, quickly bringing up his texting app, before stopping. First off, Anthony had to have just gotten there, so he might still need some time to settle in. Second, how creepy would that have looked, a sudden text after discovering he had just moved in. Mark didn't want to appear like a stalker, especially after how little they've spoken recently. Third, Anthony has said that his friend lived here as well, he's probably focusing on hanging out with him more. All these thoughts went through Mark's head at once...

But why?

Though Mark was notoriously shipped with other YouTubers, and is known for being single throughout all of his internet career (to the point of receiving legitimate applications from both genders to become the lucky Spouseplier), he never got so giddy about another person before. He considered himself straight, but what was that but just a label from other people? He never hated the ships with Yamimash or Jacksepticeye, or even Pewdiepie, but Anthony? Certainly a new one, he simply put it out in good humor during the livestream they collaborated in. He shook out more of these thoughts as they came through. Ridiculous, he finally thought. We're just friends, and Jess couldn't be better for Anthony.

Through his thoughts of trying to deny even stranger thoughts, he hadn't noticed his phone buzzing in his hand. An incoming call from Anthony.

Mark's heart leaped into his throat, causing his hands to shake. Why? Why was he getting this nervous? Why was he forcing himself to try and relax? What was going on in his head, or, for better or worse, his heart?

Missed call. He slid the phone into his pocket and stood, heading for the living room. His roommate, Ryan, was relaxing on the couch, playing on his 3DS. He looked up to Mark as he walked in, the phone in his pocket buzzing again.

"Got a call?" Ryan asked, hearing the hum.

"Yeah, it's...nothing important..." Mark said, turning to head for the kitchen, nerves quickening his breathing. Ryan noticed his behavior and stood up, setting the 3DS down and following after.

"What's wrong?"

Mark sighed deeply, one hand leaning on the fridge, the other looking to the phone, two missed call notifications up, both from Anthony. "Just...sort of an old friend just moved here, but I haven't talked to him in a while."

"Wait...a friend of yours is calling, and...you're ignoring them?" Ryan asked, genuinely taken aback. "Did he piss you off or something?"

"No! No, never...not him..." Mark said, turning around, avoiding Ryan's eye contact. "I'm just...a little nervous to talk to him again, and...to be completely honest, I have no idea why."

"Well...uh...that's...I'm sorry...?" Ryan said, confused as to what he should respond with. "Who is he, anyway?"

"We met at VidCon last year, and we sort of became friends there. I visited him once, but he ended up sick, so I left, and we did a charity livestream together. Since then, we sort of fell out of contact with each other. But now," Mark said, looking to his phone as it started buzzing once more, his hand shaking again. "...he just moved here from Connecticut. And...I don't know how to kick off our friendship again."

"Well, the best first way would to be to answer your phone, right?" Ryan said, easing over to him with each word and going to hit the 'Answer' button. Mark pulled back, but not fast enough. In the motion, Ryan accidentally tapped 'Speaker' instead.

"Ryan!" Mark shouted, as the phone loudly projected Rexxar's barking in the background, followed by a voice.

"No! It's Anthony!...ChilledChaos?...Mark?" He called out, thinking the line went dead.

"Uhh...h-hey, dude! How've ya been?" Mark responded at last, Ryan watching oddly. "It's been a while, huh?"

"Yeah, dude, I've been trying to get a hold of you! I'm in L.A. now!"

"Really?! That's awesome! When did you get here?" Mark asked, his nerves forcing him to set the phone on the counter, his body leaning against it.

"Just yesterday! We're heading out to grab some more furniture, the place is a lot bigger than we expected." Anthony paused briefly before continuing. "Hey, am I on speaker over there? I hear myself echoing on your end."

"Uh, yeah, you are, sorry, was just making something to eat..." Mark lied through his teeth.

"Hey, Anthony~" Ryan jokingly interjected. "Oh, dude, Mark has NOT stopped talking about you! All good, I promise you!"

"Uhh...what?"

"Nothing!" Mark shouted, while also in a near fight against Ryan, trying to push him out of the kitchen. "That's just my roommate, he takes joy out of fucking with me."

"But not literally, don't worry, he's still available~"

"RYAN!" Mark exclaimed, unintentionally going beet red, before hearing Anthony laugh on the other end.

"Hey, dude, it's cool, the entirety of the Derp Crew is the same way with me. Speaking of which, I'm gonna hang out with Ze this weekend, and I was hoping you weren't busy, so you can come hang out too! Maybe dinner and a movie, my treat? Or a tour through L.A.? I have no idea how to get around here yet."

"Aw, Mark, looks like you're the third wheel~" Ryan said through laughs, before getting another shove from Mark.

"Uhhh...s-sure, yeah! Just text me your new address and I'll be there!"

"Cool! Can't wait!" Anthony said, a smile evident on his voice, before hanging up. Mark quickly turned off his phone and pocketed it, turning angrily to Ryan.

"...What? What, I can't make jokes like that anymore? You didn't care when I was doing it over your chat with Sean!"

Mark turned away, leaning his fists on the counter, biting his tongue hard, before speaking.

"I don't know what it is...I just...felt nervous, that's all...and I've never felt like that for anyone..."

"Really?" Ryan asked, suddenly realizing the gravity of the situation. "Oh...sorry...I didn't mean to fuck anything up for you."

"There's nothing to fuck up!" Mark said, turning back to him. "It's not like I like him! Besides, even if I did, he has a girlfriend! One who loves him very much."

Ryan went quiet as Mark paced, running a shaking hand through his newly dyed red hair. They remained quiet for a long moment, before Ryan finally spoke up.

"Mark...for as long as I've known you, you've never cared about stuff like this. But I've also never seen you so tense about another person. And to be honest, it's surprising. You've always been the type of person to tell others to accept who they are. To not allow them to be forced to change for other people...to love who they love. At conventions, you don't care who comes up and hugs you. You're so accepting of everyone else...but right now...it looks like to me that you're not accepting yourself."

"That's not what this is, Ryan..." Mark said, finally looking over to him. "I felt...jittery. I felt the same way that I do whenever I play a seriously intense horror game. I feel...scared."

"I see...you're trying to force yourself out of your feelings, aren't you?" Ryan asked, only getting silence from Mark. "Listen...we've lived together for a while now...and...I just want you to know that, no matter what your real feelings are for this dude, I'm not going to judge you or look at you any differently. And ok, he's with someone else...that doesn't mean you can't still have a little crush~" He said with a smile and a playful nudge of Mark's shoulder.

"Fuck you..." Mark said, slapping his hand away.

"I'm serious, though. You know I don't care about something as stupid as judging someone for who they like. All I care about is...making sure my friends are happy. And making sure I can eventually kick your ass at Super Smash Brothers."

"You never will, dude." Mark smiled. Finally.

"Hey..." Ryan said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You feel a little better now?"

"Yeah," Mark said with a sigh, looking up to the ceiling. "Still nervous, but...a lot less now."

"Good. Now, I'm ordering us pizza, and we're going three rounds, five stock each. I call King Dedede!" Ryan said before heading back for the living room.

"Fine! Then I'll be Link!" Mark called after him, starting to follow, before receiving a text alert. Checking his phone, it was, in fact, the address from Anthony. Mark's heart jumped once again, but now, more in elated nerves than frightened. He smiled and nodded, sending a quick text back, before heading to the living room.

"Can't wait! See you then!"


	9. The Inside: Thoughts

**A/N: Might be back to slow uploads for a while, main computer died on me and I'm currently using my roommate's computer for updates. I'll try my best to keep up with demand on both here and TYW, but no promises. Sorry x.x;**

Mark remained in his excited state, seeming empowered by it. He beat Ryan in each round of Smash they played, even when Ryan resorted to using his Villager Amiibo. Nothing was bringing Mark down, and it even showed in his next few videos. He was giggly and energetic throughout. The next day was his planning day, to figure out what they would be doing in L.A. for Anthony's tour the following afternoon. Ryan agreed to give them rides if Jess or Steven were unable to.

"Yeah, I'm not gonna miss out on your little date, I'll be happy to chauffeur for you~"

Of course, the little jokes weren't going to stop. It was standard for a friendship as close as theirs, and Mark didn't mind, now that he felt more relaxed about it. His thoughts were still far from romantic, so a little joking was just in good fun in his mind.

Before day's end, Mark let Anthony know what they would be doing through the next day. They'll pick him and Steven up at Anthony's new apartment, of which he just finished a mini apartment tour for, then they'll take him around to their favorite spots. Even though they've all been to DisneyLand before many times, Anthony always looked forward to returning any time, so that would be their main stop. Then more dining, a movie, and a night over at Mark's place for gaming and a morning play date for Rexxar and Mark's dog, Chica. Anthony agreed to the plan and got videos ready to upload for his main and new channel, while Mark did the same for his.

Without even noticing, it was already two o'clock. Mark had to get to bed if he was going to have any functionality for tomorrow. He got to bed and fell asleep after a bit of difficulty. He knew his feelings for him was just as a friend with maybe a little bit of a crush, but he couldn't help but feel the same excitement as he did for the first time he was going to host his own convention panel. An extreme lightness in his heart only allowed him to sleep from exhaustion through trying hard enough.

Waking up hours later, from what it felt like to him, his phone was buzzing with notification, missed calls and messages. He noticed they were all from Anthony, and sat up in a jump at the sound of a knock at the door.

"Uhh...h-hello?" Mark called out, thinking it was just Ryan, causing him to hastily stand up from his bed. The door slowly opened, revealing the person knocking.

"Hey~ Long time no see!" Not Ryan, but Anthony, said with a smile, not immediately noticing Mark was only clad in his boxers from the night before.

"O-Oh! Anthony! Hey!" Mark straightened up, face reddening as he scrambled to grab his sheets, pulling them over his body. "Sorry, I must have slept in, did Ryan pick you up?"

"Yeah, he said it was cool if I came in...oh, shit, did I wake you?!" Anthony trailed his body with his eyes, turning back for the door. "Sorry, go ahead and get yourself ready, I didn't mean to barge in...!"

"No, no, it's cool, dude, my fault!" Mark stammered, feeling like an idiot for getting embarrassed. "Just let me throw on some clothes and we'll head out, ok?" He said, starting for his closet. "Just...make yourself at home, I won't be long..."

Anthony nodded and sat at his bed, glancing around his bedroom. After a moment of awkward silence, with Mark quickly pushing clothes out of the way to find something suitable, he spoke up. "Y'know, I always thought your bedroom was your YouTube set-up."

"Really?" Mark asked, grabbing a pair of jeans. "Well, it used to be, until I moved here, and decided to dedicate a room to it."

"Yeah, in Connecticut, the computer was just in the living room, but now it's back to our bedroom/living room area. We got a two story place, but with the furniture, it shrank three sizes."

"Welcome to L.A." Mark chuckled, pulling the jeans up, groaning as it was an unexpectedly tight fit, the zipper misbehaving. "Fuck, why can't I have three arms..."

"What's wrong?" Anthony asked, standing from the bed.

"It's fine, just, the button doesn't stay when I zip, and vice versa. Let me just see if I can find another pair..."

Anthony rolled his eyes and eased up behind him, reaching an arm around his waist. "No time, Steven gets impatient in cars...let me help."

Before Mark could respond, Anthony's grip eased the zipper upwards, then held it secure as his other hand helped button them together, the hold staying.

"There, yeah, I have trouble with that sometimes as well, you just gotta be firm with it." Anthony said with a smile, Mark remaining frozen, bright red, facing the closet. "You ok?...Shit, did I just pop a personal bubble? I'm sorry!"

"N-No...it's ok...just...let me finish here..." Mark said, going back into the closet for a shirt. He remained silent, buttoning up a flannel, thinking he had just screwed up their day together. "Ok...I'm ready..." Mark said, turning to see Anthony was sitting back on the bed, looking away from him. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine...are you?" Anthony asked, looking back up to Mark as he sat down next to him.

"Yeah, just...sorry, I get a little flustered sometimes I guess...I'm sorry...I really didn't want to screw anything up. Can we just forget that?" Mark asked, trying to put on a smile. "I want you to enjoy your time here..."

"I...don't think we can forget it..." Anthony said, looking away. "I made you feel awkward, I know I did..."

"It's ok! Really...I think that all the joking around we do with our friends online kind of-"

"Ryan told me."

"-makes us forget about our...l-...what?" Mark slowed to a stop, heart pounding. "He...what?"

"Ryan...told me how you got when I called...how you...said you felt...I just thought that doing something like that could...help ease the tension away...but...I guess I fucked up..."

"But...y-...I thought..." Mark stuttered, backed into a corner. "D-...Don't you...You have Jess..."

Anthony chuckled with a shrug, looking back to him. "Well, Jess knows how these things work, how I joke around with Steven, she said she doesn't mind~...as long as, y'know...neither do you~"

"Wh-! What do you mean?!" Mark asked, heart pounding out of his chest.

"I think you already know, Mark..." Anthony spoke, a delicate tone on his lips, as he slowly edged himself a little closer to the trembling, shorter man. "You can't ignore these thoughts anymore~"

"D-D...Ch-...Chilled, I don't think-!"

"Shh..." he shushed Mark, a finger to his lips. "Call me Anthony~..."

Mark was without words, as he was pushed down onto the bed firmly from the shoulders by the Italian. He could swear that he heard and felt a squeak rise from his throat as he approached closer, eyes locked, the tips of their noses nearly touching. He felt the heaviness of his own breath bounce back off of Anthony's face. It edged closer. He was paralyzed, his body refusing to fight the man off. The last thing he heard-

Was the shrill beeping of his alarm.

Mark shot awake, practically adhered to his bed with sweat. His hand shook as it swatted the alarm clock off of the bedside table. He sat up, looking around frantically, running a hand in his drenched hair, panting hard.

"What the fuck...what the fuck..." he muttered through gasps, before shouting in fear at a knock on the door. "What?!"

"Whoa!" Ryan stepped in quickly. "You ok, dude?!"

"Ryan...oh, ok...alright..." Mark said, looking around.

"What happened? You look awful..." Ryan said, holding a phone in his hand. "I was just making sure you were up, we have to be ready and out of here in a half hour. You still up for this?"

"Yeah...yeah...just give me time to shower real quick..." Mark said, catching his breath, before looking back to Ryan, who remained there in concern. "Sorry...just a really intense dream..."

"Intense good or intense bad?" Ryan asked. Mark looked away briefly, before standing from his bed, sighing deeply.

"Not sure."


	10. The Inside: Reunion

Mark remained silent most of the ride to Anthony's apartment, the dream still wracking his mind. He wasn't about to discuss just what happened in it with Ryan, or especially Anthony himself. But he knew it was a subconscious way of telling him something, something he still wasn't sure he was ready to admit.

"Dude...which way now?"

"Huh?" Mark asked, looking to Ryan, not even aware he had been asking for the next set of directions for a while now. He had even pulled over to make sure they didn't get lost, while Mark was lost in thought. "Oh...uhm, a left up here," he said, looking to the GPS on his phone. Ryan sighed and turned, getting tired of the silence.

"Personally, I thought you'd be a lot more excited for today," Ryan started, glancing over to him while at a red light. "What's going on, got the jitters again?"

"Yeah...I guess you can say that," Mark responded quietly, looking away.

"Still thinking of your dream from last night?"

"Yeah...you can say that..."

"Gonna keep repeating yourself until I shut up?"

"...Yeah...you can say that..."

Ryan sighed, turning into a parking area once again, wanting to get to the bottom of what was going on in his friend's head.

"Alright, dude, what's going on with you?"

"Ryan, I really don't want to talk about it right now..." Mark said, looking back to him.

"Just yesterday, you were bouncing off the walls waiting to see this guy, now you're more depressed than ever! What did your dream do to you so badly that you've one-eightied your outlook for today?"

"I dreamed about him, ok?!" Mark snapped back, leaning against the chair, looking out the window. "...It got heavy, and...now I'm scared to even see the guy again..."

"Wh-...I thought you were ok with how you felt! Didn't my talk to you about it help at all?"

"It did, dude, at first...now I'm just...scared again. I feel like I'm gonna puke if I even try to talk to him. If I look at him, I will cry. If I think about him, I get lost in it!"

They remained quiet for a moment, Mark's focus staying out the window. After a while, Ryan started the car again, looking back to him.

"Which way now?"

"What?"

"Which way now? Did I stutter?"

"We're still going there?!"

"Do you want to disappoint him?" Ryan asked, looking to him from the corner of his eye.

"Did you not hear a word I just said? Just being around the guy, I'll panic!"

"Yeah, and?! Mark, you can't deny yourself how you really feel any longer!" Ryan said, idling the car once more. "Clearly, your dream was telling you the same thing." He paused, looking to Mark, trying to get the point across. "...You're in love, Mark!"

"No I'm not!"

"And why not, then?"

"Well, because he-...and I'm...I just...bec-..." Mark's speech slowed, as he remembered what Ryan said. Anthony had Jess, sure, but a crush was still a crush, even if he couldn't act on it. And it seemed to hit him hard, to the point he tried pushing them back just as hard, causing him heartache. Mark shook his head, trying to speak, finding it difficult. "I...don't know..."

"Mark...I know it's not easy to accept something like this. It hurts even more when, well, you can't act on it. I'm guessing what happened in your dream was your way of...uhh...'relieving' that act?" Ryan asked, Mark silently nodding. "Ok, you don't have to explain it to me...just...know that this isn't uncommon. You were nervous, then excited, now you're terrified. You've been through high school, you had to have had crushes like this before."

"Yeah, but...not exactly like this." Mark muttered.

"Still, you remember the feeling back then? How your stomach turned when you would just think about them, and you'd be completely lost in thought, and I'm guessing you had dreams, too."

"Look, I don't need you to psychoanalyze me, or act like a dad to me, or anything like that." Mark said. "I know you're not trying to, you're trying to help, and I thank you for it. But right now, I just...don't know what I should do..."

"Ok, then how about from a friend, here's what you should do. Be Mark. Be you. The person who hung out with him the first time you met him. Be a friend. Be there for him."

Mark looked back to him, trying not to get taken over by his emotions again, swallowing hard. Taking a deep breath, he nodded, trying to smile through nervously shaking lips.

"Alright...take the second right here." Mark said, looking back to his phone.

Their drive was a little more lively after their discussion. They talked about where they would go to eat and what movie they'll see. They agreed to let Anthony decide, not wanting to bring him to a film he already saw. Mark would occasionally gush a little about how he'd be paying for his popcorn, essentially 'fueling his addiction', or how they'd share a car on a roller coaster in DisneyLand and be able to have a photo of it, to keep the memory. Would they pose? Should they pose? What should they pose? Would their pose be in time with the photo? Mark asked all these questions, all of which got an 'I dunno' from Ryan, relieved to see him back to normal at last.

They pulled up to the apartment building, Mark's nerves returning once again. As the car went idle, he took a deep breath, looking back to Ryan, a giddy smile on his face.

"You ready?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah," Mark said with a nod. "I just...haven't seen him in a while."

"Hey, just remember what I, and the Genie of Aladdin said. Be-e-e yourself!" Ryan said in his impression voice, Mark laughing a little.

"I know, I know...alright. I'll be right back." He said, pausing, looking to the building briefly before opening the door, stepping up to the front door. He stepped into the foyer and found the right button, swallowing as he pushed it. He heard the echos of barking from upstairs. Must have been Rexxar, so he had the right one. After a moment, he heard a door open, followed by playful scolding at the barking.

"I'll be back tomorrow! Rex, stop it!"

Mark decided to peer up the stairs, thinking of at least joking around a little as well.

"Yeah, Rex, if you don't behave, no play time with Chica!" He called up in a humorously intimidating voice.

"Yeah! Back up! You! Sit! Sit!" Anthony paused, his dog sitting, tail wagging, thinking it was going to play. Anthony grabbed a stray tennis ball, tossing it into the living room, Rex chasing after it. He shut the door and hurried down the stairs, laughing a bit.

"Did you just trick your dog? Really, dude?!" Mark laughed as well.

"Y'know, I should feel bad, but I really don't! He's still so gullible!"

"One of these days, he'll learn."

"Don't jynx it, dude!" Anthony laughed, finally stepping down to meet up with him. "But hey, it's great to see you again!"

"It's great to see you, too!" Mark began. "I was a little worried th-!"

Mark was interrupted by a sudden embrace. Anthony, being much taller, pulled him into his chest, unintentionally fueling Mark's inner fire. His build was evident that he had been working out once again, as when Mark tried to hug him back, he felt the air escape his lungs.

"Ok! Ok, dude!" Mark said, tapping out, laughing slightly. "We get it, you're stronger than me~!"

Anthony chuckled and pulled away, starting for the door. "Sorry, just been thinking about today quite a bit. I'll show you how to get to Steven's place, then we can all hang out together in a big road trip! If your room mate doesn't mind, that is."

"No, that's cool, just topped off the tank before we got here."

"Alright, and I'll pay my share, don't worry. Don't want you going Dutch on me!" Anthony laughed, stepping outside.

Mark had a moment to cool down outside while they went back for Ryan's car. Mark introduced them to each other, and took an opt to sit in the back with him to 'better navigate the GPS to Steven's house'. Ryan occasionally gave him subtle looks through the rear view mirror, causing him to blush and look back out the window. But even through his nervousness, he was still joking up a storm with the two throughout their ride to Steven's. As Anthony went in to pick him up, Ryan couldn't help but notice how Mark was going along. Mark even thanked him for being their to help him through it.

"Don't thank me, man," Ryan said. "You're doing great on your own."

"I'm trying my hardest..." Mark said, looking back to him. "I wouldn't be like this now if you hadn't snapped me out of it."

"Hey, what are friends for?" Ryan finished, noticing Anthony was coming out again.

Mark looked over as well, smile slowly fading. Anthony was laughing hard, as his friend trailed behind him. Soon, he paused mid-step, looking back to the Canadian, before wrapping an arm around his shoulders, tugging him in for the rest of the walk to the car. Mark felt his heart sink. He knew, above all else, that Anthony and Steven were friends for much longer than Anthony and himself. They were the ship of the Derp Crew. They were ZeRoyalChaos. And there was no thought in Mark's mind to take that away from them.

So why did he feel...jealous?


End file.
